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Piston Coating?

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 12:12 pm
by smokeymon
Just was wondering if anyone has ever tried coating their pistons.I see stuff available but I would like to hear from someone who has actually tried it.

Re: Piston Coating?

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 7:07 pm
by Alan H
What model/year engine? And why?
Early or iron bore engines never had it and later UK SCEM plated bores didn't either.
The engines are fairly unstressed and don't really need coated pistons unless you expect to seriously abuse them!

Re: Piston Coating?

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 9:57 pm
by smokeymon
No reason other than curiosity really.

Re: Piston Coating?

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:34 pm
by Zunspec4
Hi smokeymon,

After market pistons from Weisco and Wossner come with coatings. I have no idea of their effectiveness over a plain piston but I can tell you the coatings wear down quite quickly (at least in my race engines). Coated pistons do look really trick when they come out of their box though :D

Cheers Geoff

Re: Piston Coating?

Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 9:32 am
by smokeymon
Yes i,ve been doing some reading.I gather that the factory applied coatings are pretty much cosmetic and wear off quite quickly. There seems to be other types of coatings that can increase power and reduce friction.Ceramic coatings are applied to domes to keep the piston from absorbing heat which in theory helps improve HP. And dry lube films for the pistons to reduce friction. Both of these sound like a good thing for 2 strokes that are prone to heat issues. Might be useful for a modded engine where carb jetting needs to be sorted out and the potential for lean running exists. More research needed though before I,d buy into it.

Re: Piston Coating?

Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 11:42 am
by sportston
I got my skirts teflon coated and ceramic coated the crowns. But I have yet to see the long term effects. My engine is still awaiting the crankshaft. I figured it wouldn't do any harm to give the engine a little extra potential heat protection. I plan on doing some serious mileage on mine and I won't be riding it gentle.

Re: Piston Coating?

Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 9:48 pm
by smokeymon
Who did them for you? There is some available for DIY for the folks with the equipment to do it.

Re: Piston Coating?

Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2017 3:05 pm
by Vintageman
I have used the thicker soft spray on/bake coating like Swain (sp?). Did to try and reduce eextra gap due to hone (I really backed of this urge to get rid of every scratch). It doesn't last

I have been buying wossner over wisecos, new stuff. and the coating is thin and has lasted thousands of miles. These are fresh bore jobs I tooks the time to smooth hone burrs with fine grit to rid sharg edges


If you want to close gap there is harder anodizing (forget companies) in CA, but can look if you want). They claim to increase Dia 0.001 for cast and 0.0015' if forged piston. The cost is expensive. But if you are at last bore and don't like slap noise..

Re: Piston Coating?

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 5:15 am
by sportston
smokeymon wrote:Who did them for you? There is some available for DIY for the folks with the equipment to do it.
I used this company
http://www.camcoat.com/main/contact.html

Re: Piston Coating?

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 9:06 am
by Vintageman
Thanks. Never seen this Co. looks professional


How you ever noticed that cast cylinder liners wears faster than your Aluminum piston?

Bore-Tech has a process that claims to make your liner last longer. I called him once and he seams to know a lot (done many jobs too) and can tell you how some cast materials used by oems back when is different than others. I have never heard of this before, have you?

https://bore-tech.com/Carbide%20Bore%20Process" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

the reason I went here was I heard this guys will bore your cylinder to blue print spec. As he gets close to the final dia. the old boy slows down and measures twices cuts ones. Too many gous overshoot the diameter and then you start considering piston coatings for that reason. I have not used him yet. But the last guy I was using put a deep grooves in my liner after bore job. I need to find someone who takes their sweet time and does it correct and or has the most modern equipment and calibrated. I HAVE TOOLS and I can check if done right. But if not too late and this stuff is getting hard to find.

Re: Piston Coating?

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 12:01 pm
by smokeymon
That is some interesting stuff there. I will def do more reading about that stuff.If it will extend the bore life that is a super bonus.I was fortunate enough to find a motor with original bore but even it wont last forever. You are right this stuff is getting harder too find.Thats why I cringe every time I see a bike that has two engines or more in it.I just think of how many bikes could be on the road with those engines. We must do all we can to keep them alive. :up:

I would bust a nut (and likely a skull) if I sent my cylinders out for work and they F'd them up.You are paying a lot of money for that work and there are no excuses for that crap.

Re: Piston Coating?

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 2:50 pm
by sportston
Its not uncommon to have the bore matched to the piston. The cart-racing guys in the UK do it all the time. Find a good engineer shop and they will do this.

Re: Piston Coating?

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 4:17 pm
by smokeymon
Ya I know they do it.It's when they dont do it right that is the issue.lol.